Method and apparatus for finishing electric coils

ABSTRACT

In a method and apparatus for winding and finishing electric coils in which the coils are intermittently advanced by a turret through a plurality of working stations including at least one winding station and in which the coils remain interconnected by a length of wire extending from the winding station to the next station or to all the other working stations, the improvement wherein the wire is wrapped around the terminal lug of the spool in the winding station, and preferably simultaneously also in the subsequent station, by engaging the mentioned length of wire and rotating same to cause it to describe a conical surface which embraces the lug and has its apex at the base of the lug.

United States Patent Camardella 1 June 6, 1972 3,095,635 7/1963 Laviana ..29/605 Primary ExaminerTravis S McGehee Attorney-Benjamin J. Barish [5 7] ABSTRACT In a method and apparatus for winding and finishing electric coils in which the coils are intermittently advanced by a turret through a plurality of working stations including at least one winding station and in which the coils remain interconnected by a length of wire extending from the winding station to the next station or to all the other working stations, the improvement wherein the wire is wrapped around the terminal lug of the spool in the winding station, and preferably simultaneously also in the subsequent station, by engaging the mentioned length of wire and rotating same to cause it to describe a conical surface which embraces the lug and has its apex at the base of the lug.

9 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJM sum 1 3.667.118

SHEET? 0F 3 I nvenlor G'IUSEB'EE CANHEDELLQ METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FINISHING ELECTRIC COILS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for winding and finishing electric coils.

2. Description of the Prior Art A number of different methods are known for winding coils, e.g., of copper wire, by means of simple, multiple or turrettype machines and the like. However the problem of connecting and soldering the ends or terminal portions emerging from the coil to the lugs fast with the coil support has still not been completely solved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION By the method and apparatus of the present invention, it becomes possible to obtain, in a fully automatic manner, coils which are not only wound but completely finished, that is ready to be installed in the apparatus for which they are intended, without any further manual intervention.

This method can be applied in particular on machines of the type having a step-by-step advancing turret in which the coils are carried through a sequence of working stations including at least one winding station and in which the coils remain interconnected by a length of wire over the entire path extending between said winding station and a separating and unloading station; this method is characterized in that each coil end emerging from the winding in alignment with a corresponding lug fast with the coil support is wrapped around said lug by rotating the connecting length of wire such as to cause it to describe a conical surface which embraces the lug and has its apex at the base of the lug.

The present invention moreover relates to apparatus designed to carry the above-described method into the effect and which constitutes a particularly practical and functional solution by way of example, but which is not to be in any way considered in a sense restricting the present invention. This apparatus is applied to a coil with a beginning-to-end winding and, therefore, with two emerging ends and two corresponding lugs, but it is obvious that it is possible to produce on the same principle two windings with a third terminal in common (normally called an intermediate, tap), or two different windings with four ends or terminal portions, and so on, naturally by employing on the turret-type machine, as the case may be, one or two or more winding heads.

The apparatus according to the present invention includes at least one gripping means for seizing the wire extending between two consecutive coils on the turret, and means for impressing a uniform rotation on said gripping means for a limited number of revolutions.

According to a preferred constructional form, said apparatus moreover includes means for producing an abundance or surplus of wire in said length of wire extending between two consecutive coils, there being a pair of gripping means each independently seizing said length of wire in the proximity of one of said two coils.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below.

. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is in any case made clearer with reference to a preferred constructional form illustrated, somewhat diagrammatically and by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. and 1b are an end view and a top view, respectively, ofa coil support;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of a portion of a coil winding machine having a step-by-step advancing turret;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic front view of one of the means for gripping the wire extending between two coils in the turret;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic side view of the means for producing a surplus of wire in the wire extending between two coils on the turret;

FIGS. 5a and 5b show a finished coil from the end, at the time of the soldering operation applied to the ends or terminal portions; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of means for bending the lugs with the ends soldered thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. Ia and 1b show a coil support or spool l of the type in which the lugs 2 are fixed to one of the flanges l by insertion during the moulding, or by forcing, or by other means. The lugs 2 are formed in such manner as to present extending axially with respect to the coil, the tongues for connecting the coil itself to the remainder of the circuit, and laterally small projections 2a.

FIG. 2 shows two spools 3 and 4 of the type referred to above, these being mounted on a step-by-step advancing turret of a coil winding machine; for greater clarity, there is also shown a winding apparatus including a wire guide 5, this being in the position in which the winding has finished.

As is known in turret machines, if the wire is not cut intentionally, it keeps the various coils connected, following a polygonal course. The method according to the present invention proposes that the length of wire extending between two consecutive coils be gripped, be moved out of its alignment, and a rotation be impressed thereon, this making it possible to wind simultaneously the left terminal 2a of coil 3 and the right terminal 2b of coil 4 with said length of wire.

As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus according to the invention therefore includes two devices 7 and 7a, for gripping the wire 6, which devices are adapted to transmit a rotatory movement to the wire itself. This movement describes an ideal cone around each of the lugs 2a, 2b, which cone embraces the lug and has its apex at the base of the lug. Two or three, or more, turns of the terminal wire are so wound around these lugs, in accordance with the length and the form of the terminal or lug itself.

One of the two gripping devices 7, 7a is shown in greater detail in the elevational view of FIG. 3, which is taken along the plane X-X of FIG. 2. This device consists of a rod 9 formed with a hooked end 8 having an opening facing the wire 6 and permitting the wire to enter it when the rod is moved toward the wire. Hooked end 8 thus engages or grips the wire, and when the rod is oscillated or rotated as described below, the wire is moved with it. Hooked end 8 is also formed with a labyrinth edge 8 partially closing the opening so as to be able to engage the wire in order to retain it when rod 8 is moved away from the wire. In operation, rod 9 is raised toward wire 6 in a first stage for gripping the wire 6; this movement is obtained through the medium of the pneumatic cylinder 10 and is guided through the medium of the arms 12 and 12 The rod 9 then behaves as a linkage when the crank 11 is set in rotation, actuated by a drive (not shown), in a second stage. In this stage, the rotary movement of the crank 11 is reproduced at the end 8, since the suitably long connecting rod 12 produces a substantially rectilinear excursion of the point 13. It is generally appropriate for the two gripping devices 7, 7a to be actuated by common means (cylinder 10 and crank l 1).

Instead of the hooked ends 8, the rods 9 may carry gripping pincers of suitable material (e.g. plastic or the like).

To be able to be set the wire 6 in rotation in the manner described hereinbefore, the wire must have sufficient freedom of movement. In the event of the devices 7, 7a being made in the form of pincers adapted to hold the wire firmly, means for cutting the wire 6 may simply be provided, and this is actuated immediately after the pincers have seized the wire and immediately before a rotary movement is transmitted to the pincers themselves.

According to the present invention, in the case of the hookedmeans illustrated in FIG. 3, means are provided for producing a certain surplus or abundance of wire in the length between the two consecutive coils 3 and 4; this surplus of wire allows the conical movement without breaking of the wire itself.

A possible constructional form of said means for producing a surplus of wire is illustrated in FIG. 4, which is an elevational view along the plane Y-Y of FIG. 2. Said means comprise a pneumatic cylinder 14 to the rod of which a pulley 15 is connected; this pulley can be made to advance as faras the position 15, so as to form a loop of wire 6' (as indicated by a dash line) owing to the wire itself resting on the guide rollers 15a and 15b.

During the wounding of the wire round the lugs 2a, 2b, the loop of wire 6 is reduced up to practically aligning rollers 15a, 15b and 15'; then the return movement imparted by the cylinder 10 to return rod 9 away from the wire causes the wire to be pulled and torn by the edge 8, as described above, the breaking of the wire taking place preferably at the point where the wire moves away from lugs 2a, 2b, due to the relatively sharp edges of the lugs.

At this point, the lacquer of the wire being of solderable type, it is possible to proceed to immerse the lugs 2a, 2b with the respective coil ends in the soldering baths 18, as shown in FIGS. 50 and b, after immersion in colophony or another activating agent. The rotation of the coil, in the positions shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b, takes place automatically, for example by means of gears 16 and 17 (FIG. 2), which are carried by and impress partial rotation to the spindles supporting the spools 1. Gears l6 and 17, upon rotation of the turret, engage fixed teeth (shown schematically at 16', 17' to partially rotate the spindles; alternatively, the gears may be rotated by means of small motors (not shown).

A further automatic operation on the coil, when wound and with the ends soldered to the lugs, may consist of a deformation of the lugs themselves in the direction indicated by the arrow 19 in FIG. 6 to the position shown at 2a. This operation serves to'slacken the ends emerging from the coil, which ends, on the other hand, are tautened on soldering; this operation may be carried out, for instance, by a bending die 20 actuated by a pneumatic cylinder (not shown). By so doing, it also becomes unnecessary to braid wires below a diameter of 0.1 mm, which it is normally expedient to do when the ends are connected manually becauseof the low mechanical strength of the wire.

It is understood, in any case, that the invention is not limited to the particular constructional form which has been described, but that other embodiments may differ therefrom without thereby departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, the conical rotational movement of the gripping devices 7 and 7a could be combined in a single gripping means disposed centrally along the length of the wire between the two coils 3 and 4.

Iclaim:

I. In a method of winding and finishing electric coils in which the coils are indexed sequentially through at least one winding station and a subsequent station, the wire in the winding station being wound on a spool carrying a terminal lug, the wire from the coil in the winding station being unsevered as the coil is indexed to said subsequent station whereby the coils in the two stations are interconnected by a length of wire, the improvement comprising forming an excess of length in said wire interconnecting said latter two stations, wrapping the wire around the terminal lug in at least one of said stations by engaging said interconnecting length of wire and rotating same to cause it to describe a conical surface which embraces 1 said lug and has its apex at the base of said lug, and subsequently cutting said interconnecting length of wire.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said length of wire is rotated to wrap it around the terminal lug of the coils in both of said stations simultaneously.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the lug is wrapped a plurality of turns and is subsequently immersed in a soldering bath.

.4. Apparatus for carrying out a method of winding and finishing electric coils in which the coils are indexed sequentially through at least one winding station and a subsequent station, the wire in the winding station being wound on a spool carrying a terminal lug, the wire from the COlI m the winding station being unsevered as the coil is indexed to said subsequent station whereby the coils in the two stations are interconnected by a length of wire, said apparatus comprising a step-by-step advancing turret adapted to support a plurality of coils and to advance same through a plurality of working stations at least one of which is a winding station, at least one gripping means for seizing the wire interconnecting two consecutive coils on the turret, and means for impressing a uniform rotation on said gripping means for a limited number of revolutions.

5. Apparatus as in claim 4 further including means for producing an excess of wire in said length of wire interconnecting the two consecutive coils, there being a pair of gripping means each independently seizeing said length of wire in the proximity of one of said two coils.

6. Apparatus as in claim 5, wherein said means for producing an excess of wire comprises an assembly of three rollers, two of said rollers being carried on a fixed support on one side of the wire, the third of said rollers being disposed between the first two rollers on the other side of the wire, said third roller being movable with respect to the first two rollers transversely of the wire to form a loop in the wire;

7. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein said gripping means comprises a rod, and means for moving the rod toward the wire, for rotating the rod, and for moving the rod away from the wire, said rod having a hooked end formed with an opening facing the wire and permitting the wire to enter same when the rod is moved toward the wire, said hooked end also being formed with a labyrinth edge partially closing said opening and apt to engage the wire to retain it when the rod is moved away from the wire.

8. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein said turret includes, at the support for at least one of said coils, means for partially rotating the coil for immersing the wrapped lug in a soldering bath.

9. Apparatus as in claim 4, further including a bending die at one of said working stations for engaging the wrapped lugs and for bending same toward the spool, to thereby slacken the ends of the wire attached to the lugs. 

1. In a method of winding and finishing electric coils in which the coils are indexed sequentially through at least one winding station and a subsequent station, the wire in the winding station being wound on a spool carrying a terminal lug, the wire from the coil in the winding station being unsevered as the coil is indexed to said subsequent station whereby the coils in the two stations are interconnected by a length of wire, the improvement comprising forming an excess of length in said wire interconnecting said latter two stations, wrapping the wire around the terminal lug in at least one of said stations by engaging said interconnecting length of wire and rotating same to cause it to describe a conical surface which embraces said lug and has its apex at the base of said lug, and subsequently cutting said interconnecting length of wire.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said length of wire is rotated to wrap it around the terminal lug of the coils in both of said stations simultaneously.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the lug is wrapped a plurality of turns and is subsequently immersed in a soldering bath.
 4. Apparatus for carrying out a method of winding and finishing electric coils in which the coils are indexed sequentially through at least one winding station and a subsequent station, the wire in the winding station being wound on a spool carrying a terminal lug, the wire from the coil in the winding station being unsevered as the coil is indexed to said subsequent station whereby the coils in the two stations are interconnected by a length of wire, said apparatus comprising a step-by-step advancing turret adapted to support a plurality of coils and to advance same through a plurality of working stations at least one of which is a winding station, at least one gripping means for seizing the wire interconnecting two consecutive coils on the turret, and means for impressing a uniform rotation on said gripping means for a limited number of revolutions.
 5. Apparatus as in claim 4 further including means for producing an excess of wire in said length of wire interconnecting the two consecutive coils, there being a pair of gripping means each independently seizeing said length of wire in the proximity of one of said two coils.
 6. Apparatus as in claim 5, wherein said means for producing an excess of wire comprises an assembly of three rollers, two of said rollers being carried on a fixed support on one side of the wire, the third of said rollers being disposed between the first two rollers on the other side of the wire, said third roller being movable with respect to the first two rollers transversely of the wire to form a loop in the wire.
 7. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein said gripping means comprises a rod, and means for moving the rod toward the wire, for rotating the rod, and for moving the rod away from the wire, said rod having a hooked end formed with an opening facing the wire and permitting the wire to enter same when the rod is moved toward the wire, said hooked end also being formed with a labyrinth edge partially closing said opening and apt to engage the wire to retain it when the rod is moved away from the wire.
 8. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein said turret includes, at the support for at least one of said coils, means for partially rotating the coil for immersing the wrapped lug in a soldering bath.
 9. Apparatus as in claim 4, further including a bending die at one of said working stations for engaging the wrapped lugs and for bending same toward the spool, to thereby slacken the ends of the wire attached to the lugs. 